View Full Version : Ketoacidosis
I was reading a little on ketoacidosis and wonder about this "acid" in the blood and is there a home test for checking ketone levels in the urine?
Team Diabetes
11-27-2006, 11:34 AM
Hello! Ketones simply mean your body is breaking down fat for energy. In large amounts, ketones can make the blood more acidic.
In healthy people and most Type 2 diabetics, ketones are not an issue. These people can make small amounts of ketones (called "ketosis") when they are sick, dieting, or fasting. This is normal. In small amounts for short periods, ketones will not hurt you.
If you have Type 1 diabetes, or are an insulin requiring Type 2 diabetic, you can devlop LARGE amounts of ketones from insulin deficiency. If you have high blood sugar and ketones, this is an EMERGENCY!!!
The treatment in its early stages is extra insulin and fluids.
Eating and insulin will help with starvation ketones.
In late stages, an IV with electrolytes and insulin is needed.
Team Diabetes
11-27-2006, 11:39 AM
You can buy "Ketostix" to check for urine ketones at home. If you are a Type 1 diabetic, you MUST have these so you can check for ketones of your BG is high or you are ill.
Precision X-tra also makes a home BG monitor which tests blood ketones.
I love my NutriSweetheart
07-30-2008, 06:36 PM
So then what should you do if there are Ketone's in the blood? Just the same as what you'd do if the sugar is high? And they just go away?
Chris
07-31-2008, 08:53 AM
This is a question you are going to get a million different answers to. I've asked this and had a different opinion from everybody. One person told me to drink a lot of water and urinate the keytones out. Then somebody told me that that was a bad idea.
In the end, he should do what his doctor tells him to do for that.
I love my NutriSweetheart
07-31-2008, 10:57 AM
Yeah, that was an area of diabetic care that I still really haven't researched, and basically, we just had him lay in bed, take extra close care of his blood sugar, and we did have him drink a glass or so of water, and just relax. Granted he only had a bit of a trace of ketones, but he felt a lot better after relaxing.